PostSecret is such an intimate look into the secrets that people feel are weighing them down. Sometimes I wonder if the secrets that are actually weighing people down are the ones that they don't even realize are secrets. What we think isn't obvious, is, and what we think IS obvious, isn't. Having conversations could open those lines of communication with everyone around us.
Working in advocacy, I see people understand personal pain. They are educated enough to understand, for examply, that it must be extremely painful to grow up without parents or surrounded by drug abuse, violence, and uncertainty. Yet, they take having a clothing allowance and changing schools frequently for granted. When I am coaching youth to share their stories they want to share their feelings of emptiness. That's powerful. What puts public testimony on another level is when youth mention specific and common life occurences that are different or absent based on their situation, but are so "common" that they haven't been brought up for discussion.
Why is that meaningful? Well, in order to shift a culture smaller items need to change. You can't change an emotion, but you can change what causes or adds to that feeling or abandonment and isolation.
I went about writing this post with a different frame of reference, and it is applicable to many situations, I guess I'm just not willing to share my own...
